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Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Cover is coming along

SEVEN YEARS went to my paperback guy yesterday, and I spent time reviewing choices for scene break flourishes and going over the specs. I'm not sure when I'll get the manuscript back since I sent it in early, but I decided to get going on the full paperback cover. I already have the front design, but needed to work on the whole tamale.

I'm editing MAGERI 5 along the way, but also taking long breaks to get a bulk of the design work done. The concept alone to brand the series can be hard enough, but actually working on the cover can be labor intensive, time consuming, and the cause for grey hairs. In the end, it's 100% my cover and that's what makes the entire process very cool and so worth it. I've been fooling around with the back matter this morning and now that I have made adjustments, the only thing missing is back text. But I'm so excited about this series because you're going to have a little eye candy on the covers. I wanted to put men on the covers because I've spent the last 4 books hunting down female models. I wanted to be able to devote a solid 2 hours per day staring at studly men, just so I can wipe my brow and say, "Damn, this job is hard."

Feel me?

The cover reveal will be at a later planned date, and I'll announce that as it happens. I'm SO excited to get this book in my hands with the first proof, and hopefully it won't require a lot of heavy touch-ups.

ON A SIDE NOTE.....

It's been tough working full time writing. Not for reasons you might think. I have a workforce relations complaint and no HR department. My cat has become attached at the hip and if listening to weed whackers outside isn't bad enough, I have to listen to her meow meow meow meow, roughly translated as: "Pet me non-stop or I will meow."

Otherwise, it's been great. It's surreal at times because this is something I've wanted for more years than I can even think. Not just to be self-employed, but to write as my profession. There is no need for me to go through a publisher to say "I've made it". My brother has been an author for umpteen years and publishes on his own. These are different times, and many authors no longer want to sell away their ebook rights, agree to a 'non-competition' clause on a contract, or make less than they could earn on their own. If I had a FT job, it might not be a big deal, but this pays my bills now, so all things are considered. A publishing deal might be tempting down the road, but I would never want to put all my eggs in one basket with my only hit series. I think it's a great option once you have more titles under your belt. But come on, Hollywood. A Mageri movie! You are totally missing out on something great. ;-)

I think my fans have even selected a cast. coughChrisHemsworthcough
Just sayin'.

Having time to do fun things is also amazing. I've even seen two movies in the theater, and that breaks my record for theater visits in the last five years.

Although prices are so bad that I was thinking about putting my hot dog on layaway.